Of course I had to try that new serger asap. And I did have those flanel sheets I planned to make pyjama pants from for the girls.
So there. Four pants took me an hour and a half.  I think I love my serger!

I thought getting a room of my own (more on that later) was my birthday present and I was so happy with that. But there was more.

Yes, that’s right.

T. got me a serger!

A long time ago, before I knew how much effort it takes to make a quilt, my sister-in-law offered to make me one for the playpen. I like the idea and of course I accepted.
She didn’t really know how much effort it was either, so I finally got the quilt that was meant for the twins when our youngest was born 18 months later. She didn’t need that large playpen and the quilt went with it to my parent’s house. And there it found it’s way into a bin full of blankets. Until I remembered that it was a real quilt and asked if my mother could find it for me.
And look. There it is. Wow, that was a difficult pattern! I never realized that back then.
Also my sil used fabrics from both her stash and mine and it is so fun to see those again.

One of the girls is going to a fantasy fair. And though she promised me I wouldn’t have to help her make a dress this year (like we did last year and the year before), suddenly plans changed. A different group of friends, a different idea about costumes. They were going as the seven deadly sins (I know – how do they come up with things like that?) and she was going to be “anger”.
I asked her what kind of costume she was thinking about and she said: a long dress. Big and red.
We decided there was no time (or money) to sew a dress from scratch, so I found this gem at the market.

Not “big” enough, so I added three layers of tule.

That sounds easier then it was, but the result was great. She loved it.
And, well, I’ve got to admit, these silly dresses are actually quite fun to work on…

I’m not feeling very creative, but I’m longing for the flow to come back. So I started playing with some scraps. Those fabrics may look familiar to you: I also used them for the quilt I still haven’t finished. I will, one day…

For now I’m having kind of fun just piecing stuff together. I found the little quilt blocks I made last year in the pile and decided to just put them in with the larger pieces. I think this will be a quilt too. Again, one day…

So that’s what I’m doing today. Sewing a few pieces, than getting back to the computer and try to write a little (my new novel is half finished now). Isn’t life great sometimes?

Made as a present for someone elses book presentation.

To celebrate my book coming out, I’m giving away some fun things. A bag I made, some vintage fabric, vintagen buttons and a really Dutch tablecloth.

Comment if you’d like to participate. I’ll draw a winner next week!

Can you have too much weekend? Well, I never thought I would say so, but yes, you can! After two days of Christmas (two and a half actually, because preparing for Christmas Eve started early) and a lazy Saturday, I was bored beyond telling with having weekend yesterday.

Of course I could have started cleaning (very necessary, the cat is spreading hairs all through my kitchen following the sun around). Or doing laundry. Or keep knitting (I’ll show you the very, very big project I’m working on later and the finished poncho too). Knitting is usually fun and relaxing. But my head needed something else. I’m a bit on the worrying side lately and endless stockinette knitting is not helping to stop thinking.
So…after a while I decided to try sewing. Just for fun. Not the big ideas that are slowly building in my mind (giving totes away with my book on the presentation I am planning for February 4th or maybe even starting up the shop again). Not finishing the quilt also (because that means I need to spread it out to pin it, which means I need to move all the furniture aside and I even think it means I should vacuum before spreading it out). No, just plain fun. Just hauling my very heavy vintage hand sewingmachine (Theo was working, so the other –noisy- sewing machine was no option) to the living room and start making something.

I wasted some time staring at my fabrics and finally deciding on cutting into the bright blue I had been saving to make a skirt off someday when I loose that weight. But than there will be some nice vintage and new blue dresses waiting for me, so I might as well make a happy bag to go with those. I also had some scraps of a vintage sheet left that combined perfectly with it.

It was fun. Just cutting and deciding what to do on the way. The bag is on the small side, but I love it. Two open pockets and a zippered pocket on the inside, the lovely blue on the outside.

Oh yes, I needed that!

You might have noticed the little bits of frost going on in the pictures. Yes, it’s true! Winter has struck early and hard for the first time in years. The canal is freezing and we should be able to go skating in a few days.

I was tagged by Elizabeth to tell seven random things about myself. I really had a hard time choosing from all the things that came to mind, but here it goes.

Oh, the picture? That’s my fabric, that I need to sort after dumping it “temporarily” in the laundry basket a few days ago. It’s quite a random picture, thus it should be perfect for the post (and also I’m too busy/lazy/tired to find or make better pictures with the seven things).

– I feel old lately, but I’m not that old yet (only 37). It’s just that my children are growing up so fast. My “baby girl” is turning sixteen soon and if the twins act as fast as I did, I will be a grandmother in just two years! Still, I never regretted being a momma very young and I think I would like being a granny too.

– I always cry when I hear this song. I make it until about half way and than I break into tears. Played it three times after finding the link and cried three times.

And I think that’s all I’m ever going to say about it here, because I don’t like discussing religion…

– We were in Australia for the millennium, right at the Harbour Bridge at midnight. And afterwards we drove into the desert, just driving for days and days, until we reached Uluru (Ayer’s Rock). I can’t explain how special it was, but I really want to go there again. Other places I want to visit again are Rome and Mount Etna (visited both twice). Places I want to see “someday” are on a long list, but the Grand Canyon is on top of it.

– In our marriage of 18 years, we have lived in one apartment and four houses. I love the house we live in now the best, but I won’t say we’ll never move. The city of Rotterdam is closing us in and we would like a bit more sunny weather.

– I love all kinds of fruit, but I don’t like the taste of banana’s. When I buy smoothies I always check to see if there is no banana in them, which is limiting my choice a lot.

– I sometimes wish I was born half a century earlier, even though that would mean I would have been in my early twenties in the war.

– When I was a little girl the schoolphysician told me I would never be tall. She thought I would have to be thankful if I grew to be as tall as my mother, who is 5′4″. But I grew up to be 5′9″.

Want to play along? Tell me in the comments and I’ll tag you!